This is NOT the greatest blog in the world, no. This is just a tribute!

Mountain Bike Mike said:
Was riding my kid's 24' MTB in front of the house (has flat plastic pedals), hopped a curb and feet came right off the pedals - No footer up the damn curb... So used to pulling up clipped in...
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maybe something to do with a 24" mtb.

it comes back quick if you put them on your bike
 
Rick to truly enjoy Allaire you meed to get a proper tour. just exploring on your own leads you to nowhere there. The trails uou hit were hunting trails. I actually was just there the other day on that one. You had to ride through shit sand yo get there and I hope you at least rode over the plank of wood over the water dip. Here's a shot from last year when i hit that.
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Please hit me or Iggy or Johnny U for a true tour. That goes for anybody reading this .
 
I just stumbled across your thread and find it an interesting read. I'm pretty sure I met you in the parking lot at 6 Mile something in the last year. Awesome that you chronicling life after retirement on the bike. I'm jealous you get to spend so much time on the bike......someday:D
 
rick81721 said:
Hartshorne & Huber

Wow my last new park adventure was Nov 29 - the weather in Jan has been terrible for mountain biking, at least for central jersey. Anywho, finally got out again thanks to a text from @thegock. Morning started with some unexpected light rain but we weren't scheduled to start until 11 am and forecast showed clearing around then so off I went down the parkway to meet on rt 36. We parked in the Claypit park lot and headed out to hit Huber first. We talked about the history of the place a little and when Tom mentioned it's named for JM Huber I realized that was one of our raw material suppliers I worked with for many years at Colgate. They supply silica abrasives as well as thickening agents. I didn't know their headquarters is in Edison, NJ. Mostly sandy trails that drain well so not much slop except for a few low areas. Wet leaves and roots were more of a hazard and made for slippery climbs. Surprised at the climbing at a place so close to the ocean - I think we had about 500 ft. Tom said we'd spend 45 minutes on this side and I was surprised when we got back to the lot with 45 min, 20 seconds moving time. A little off there, wing man!

Tom shed a layer, then we took off for the Hartshorne side. Started with a decent climb to the top of the ridge. We attempted a very steep descent but wisely Tom aborted about 50 ft down as the wet leaves and roots made it too treacherous, plus many downed large branches. I skidded off to the right before laying the bike down. One of us would've done a header if we kept going. Followed the ridge until the Navesink river was visible - great view and Tom took a pic of me looking like a dwarf due to the angle (see BIYF thread). Pretty much a sheer cliff but there is a trail there and Tom claims he saw someone ride it down - wow not for me. Continued around the ridge and then climbed to a lookout spot for a pic. Great views of Seabright and the ocean:

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Next stop was the WWII battery - I had no idea they were up here - I've seen the ones on Sandy hook but not these. Apparently this huge gun (even bigger than mine) was just installed, at least according to some crazy guy who walked up to us - he had 3 teeth but claimed to have a $5K road bike. Priorities man - get those teef fixed first! Anywho, these guns are amazing - no wonder it wasn't over when the Germans invaded Atlantic Highlands:

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From here we had almost 2 hrs moving time and I was getting really hungry so we took the fasted way back to the lot, Cuesta Ridge trail. Strava

Best part about riding around here is the after-ride eating choices. We hit Bahr's by the water and had beer, local Navesink river steamers and chili soup, plus a carafe of cheese goldfish crackers while watching Tiger Wood's return at Torrey Pines.

Solid B parks here - I'll def be back before heading south to Fl.

Only 2 parks left in Central Jersey, 11 overall to go. With weather getting colder again will probably hit Ramapo next. Then have to knock off some more south jersey parks - Belleplain, Parvin, Seaview and Wells Mills.
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Now, now.... We all know the Germans invaded Pearl Harbor. ;)
 
rick81721 said:
Today's new park - Rutgers Ecological Preserve.

So this is kind of funny, for 31+ years I worked literally a 10 min mountain bike ride from this place, but never checked it out. After hitting the park, I even rode up to the old work entrance for a pic:
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I drove past the Canal Rd lot of 6MR every day for almost 5 years before I finally rode there.
 
dat gun is the same size and design as the bigguns on the USS NJ and all the IA-class battleships.
 
rick81721 said:
Only 2 parks left in Central Jersey, 11 overall to go. With weather getting colder again will probably hit Ramapo next. Then have to knock off some more south jersey parks - Belleplain, Parvin, Seaview and Wells Mills.
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Forgot that I meant to reply to this the other day. For what it's worth I'd scrap seaview from your plans and swap in Port and Stockton University if you're in the area. Took me far too long to get out on these. Still have yet to ride the newer trails at Stockton. Seaview may be ok, but my understanding is that with things falling thru there hasn't been much in the way of maintenance there anymore. Regardless of that, @theranch has put in some solid work on the new network.
 
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Now that I'm on a computer....

Rick sounds like it was an awesome trip, thanks for sharing. I would love to see Australia and New Zealand at some point in my life. Glad you got to go and enjoy it! And now I know, should I ever make it to NZ, I'll definitely need to carve out some MTB time.

Where to next?
 
My father went to visit Florida and said no f'in way. His impression is it was a place to go and die in the heat. Lol.

Conversely, when I get as young as you, Arizona will be on my mind.
 
rick81721 said:
On thinking about it, I run the gamut from "perfectly normal" to "first sign of Alzheimer's :eek:!". Anyone else ever experience this?
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All the time. Usually in the car, zoning out, listening to music and I forget where I'm going. I say being able to take your mind elsewhere is healthy.
FL will be a good place to stare off into space, you can set up a chair on your front porch and just zone. For excitement you can drive a golf cart around the neighborhood and wave to everyone.
 
Not to derail the conversation but.....

How many parks do you still have left?

With this "stay of execution", are you planning to expand the list to include any "must ride" places outside NJ?
 
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